Nature Moncton Nature News: Sept 11, 2015

** On Tuesday, Sept. 8th, five WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS [Lagénorhynque à flancs blancs] had run aground in the mud in Baie Verte. They had been caught by the outgoing tide. This was just off the Fort Moncton Rd., just outside of Port Elgin. Bob Lucci, home for the summer, had spotted them at the rear of his house. He called Sea Mammal Rescue in Halifax and they sent a local co-ordinator down from Moncton. She and Mr. Lucci waited out and stayed with the dolphins for about 3 hours to keep them upright until the tide came back in and they were able to escape. The young one was the first one to get free, but stayed nearby until the remainder were able to get away. As can be seen by the herons, the water was not very deep at low tide. Sterling Marsh got some documentary photos.

** Brian Stone checked on the BLACK AND YELLOW ARGIOPE SPIDER photographed last week. It had resettled into its newly constructed web after being disturbed by we over-zealous naturalists. Brian's photo shows the zig zag stabilimentum in the middle of the web. There are many theories why some spiders construct this stabilimentum but suspect only the spider knows the whole story.

** Brian also got a visit from a strikingly-marked BLACK AND WHITE ICHNEUMON WASP to his door window on Thursday night. It was very fortunate that it landed there so the rest of us could get an excellent photo view of it. It was approximately 1 cm long.

** Aldo Dorio captured a nice photo of a MERLIN [Faucon émerillon] on Thursday with its tail spread to nicely show the tail markings. Aldo also got a SPOTTED SANDPIPER [Chevalier grivelé] in basic plumage as is most of this species at the moment.

** I made a quick stop to the marsh ponds at the end of Louis St. in Dieppe on Thursday. When you stop at Louis St. and walk down the path to the trail and turn right, look for a path to the left that winds through the small wooded area to the shore to survey the area. The GREAT EGRET [Grande Aigrette] Jean-Paul Bourque had reported several days ago was still there. It was on the Riverview side of the marsh a long ways off on Thursday. There was also a surprising number of shorebirds there, very predominantly GREATER AND LESSER YELLOWLEGS [Grand et Petit chevalier], but it would be a good spot to spend time perusing the group. A MERLIN [Faucon émerillon] was flying the area, but no one seemed alarmed, and it made no attempt to harass any birds.

** I'm attaching some WILD RAISIN photos taken on Wednesday. They have a way to go yet before ripening to their dark blue.

** This week's Sky-at-a-Glance courtesy of Curt Nason is attached to today's transcribed version.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, September 5 – September 12

The signs of autumn appear in the sky before they become readily apparent terrestrially. As darkness settles the great mama bear, Ursa Major, scampers across the northern horizon in search of food and lodging for winter. If you live in a rural area with an excellent view to the north you might even catch a glimpse of Lynx running ahead of the bear, and consider yourself fortunate if you do. The thicker layer of atmosphere at low altitudes reduces the brightness of starlight, a phenomenon called extinction. The lynx may become extinct for a few hours.

The bowl of the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor) is upside down in early evening, pouring out its contents to fill the Big Dipper below, at the rear of Ursa Major. This scenario is at odds with Greek mythology, for the bears were cursed to eternal thirst by the goddess Hera in revenge for an indiscretion of her husband, Zeus. She placed the bears in a position where they never reach the horizon for a drink. Perhaps Zeus placed dippers of water inside the bears so that they could share water and survive. Someone has to make these stories up.

To the east Pegasus is already quite high after twilight, with its signature square asterism tilted as a diamond for the imminent baseball pennant stretch. Perseus stands above the northeast horizon below his in-laws, W-shaped Cassiopeia and house-shaped Cepheus, while their daughter Andromeda leads him toward the flying horse. There is much to see in this area with binoculars, but start with the Double Cluster of stars between Perseus and Cassiopeia.

This autumn preview is not a fleeting glimpse. The eastward progression of constellations from evening to evening is compensated by earlier sunsets, such that they emerge from twilight in the same part of the sky for many weeks. Autumn is a great time for stargazing.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:44 am and sunset will occur at 7:51 pm, giving 13 hours, 7 minutes of daylight (6:50 am and 7:55 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:53 am and set at 7:37 pm, giving 12 hours, 44 minutes of daylight (6:59 am and 7:41 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is at third quarter Saturday, September 5, and new Moon occurs next Saturday. If you happen to be in southern Africa or in Antarctica next weekend you could see a partial solar eclipse.

Mercury sets a half hour after sunset late in the week and will be difficult to see even with binoculars.

Brilliant Venus and reddish Mars rise around 4:30 midweek, with Venus sliding a little higher to the right each morning. On Thursday the crescent Moon will pass between them, a sight worth rising early to see.

Jupiter rises about an hour before Sun by midweek. See if you can spot a very slender Moon a binocular width below Jupiter next Saturday.

Saturn is in the southwest at sunset and sets a few hours later, so its best observing will be near the end of twilight.

Questions? Contact me at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton